Tuesday

8th Week of Ordinary Time, Tuesday, Year II

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In today’s First Reading Peter speaks of salvation as a grace in store for us, one worth working toward and waiting for. The disciples in today’s Gospel, the aftermath of Our Lord’s encounter with the rich young man yesterday, hear what is in store for them in terms they can understand: everything they imagine as good in this life, but in abundance. Our Lord doesn’t say it will be easy, but it will be worth it.

The disciples, at this point of the story, did everything the rich young man didn’t, but that didn’t guarantee them eternal life or its rewards. Judas was still among them and he took a wrong path that made his salvation uncertain. Salvation requires effort, and we are rewarded for our effort, but it is also a gift. Grace is not so much a wage as it is a gift, since we never merit the first grace we receive that sets us on the path to salvation, the grace that comes to us through Baptism and heals and restores us from the effects of original sin. Peter’s First Letter is considered by many to be a catechetical letter addressed to those who have just received Baptism.

Let’s continue on the path Our Lord traces out for us today. It will imply hardship and effort, but, as today’s readings promise us, it will all be worth it.

Readings: 1 Peter 1:10–16; Psalm 98:1–4; Mark 10:28–31. See also 8th Week in Ordinary Time, Tuesday, Year I and 20th Week in Ordinary Time,Tuesday.

7th Week of Ordinary Time, Tuesday, Year II

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In today’s First Reading James teaches us that outer conflicts stem from inner ones. Wars rarely remain within the confines of where they broke out; they always strive to spread and conquer new terrain in order to fuel their ambitions. Similarly, our selfish ambitions don’t just remain in our hearts or in our living rooms; they put us on a path to clashing with others pursuing their own selfish goals.

As James reminds us today, that path only leads to frustration, because seeking vain things is seeking empty things, and if those things can never satisfy us, we will always be at conflict within ourselves and with others. It’s a recipe for endless conflict with no end in sight. Loving the world to the exclusion of God is a road to nowhere; if we set our sights on the world, we set our sights on something that ultimately will pass away.

Let’s ask Our Lord to help us strive for what really will satisfy us: love for God, which will also instill in us a love for others. It’s the only thing worth fighting for and the only thing that will fulfill us forever.

Readings: James 4:1–10; Psalm 55:7–11a, 23; Mark 9:30–37. See also 19th Week in Ordinary Time, Tuesday and 25th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle B.

7th Week of Easter, Tuesday (2)

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In today’s readings we see two farewells to beloved friends: Paul bids farewell to the presbyters of Ephesus, knowing he’ll never see them again, and Our Lord’s prolonged Last Supper farewell turns to a prayer for those whom he is leaving behind before his “glorification,” which in St. John’s language is his crucifixion and resurrection.

In today’s First Reading we recall the first part of Paul’s farewell; by assuring them he was not responsible for the blood of any of them he was saying that he had held back from nothing in their regard that was a part of God’s plan. He helped them on the path to salvation, but now the Holy Spirit was prompting him to take up an arduous mission that required leaving them behind. Our Lord, addressing his Father, also declares that he had fulfilled his mission in regard to his disciples, those who believed in him, and was preparing for what would consolidate that work: his sacrifice on the Cross, a journey to death, but also to Resurrection, that would also leave them behind.

Our Lord has done this not just for the disciples of his time, but for us. Paul too set something into motion, prompted by the Holy Spirit, that benefits us even today. What’s our response?

Readings: Acts 20:17–27; Psalm 68:10–11, 20–21; John 17:1–11a. See also 7th Week of Easter, Tuesday.

5th Week of Easter, Tuesday (2)

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In today’s First Reading, amidst the trials and travels of Paul’s missionary voyage, we see the Church starting to be more organized as it spreads geographically and grows numerically. Paul starts to appoint “presbyters” in each Church he founded; presbyter means “elder,” and some day this term would refer to what we now call the second degree of Holy Orders–priests–who collaborate with the first degree–bishops. In Paul’s time it gradually went from someone who worked more closely with an apostle due to knowing them as a trusted colleague to becoming more of an office, alongside other terms, such as episkopos, prophet, and teacher. No matter how it developed, presbyters participated in the ministry of the apostles for the good of the faithful and were valuable colleagues.

The apostles knew their work would have to outlive them, so in order to provide for the Church the apostolic and ecclesial ministry continued through their co-workers, like the presbyters, and even today bishops, priests, and deacons continue the work entrusted to them by the apostles and their successors. The need for priests today often outweighs the priests available to fill them. Let’s pray for vocations to the priesthood.

Readings: Acts 14:19–28; Psalm 145:10–13b, 21; John 14:27–31a. See also 5th Week of Easter, Tuesday.

4th Week of Easter, Tuesday (2)

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The disciples in today’s First Reading were dispersed, but not defeated. They were making a name for themselves in places they would have never imagine sharing the Good News, the name of “Christians” for the first time. If it hadn’t been for the persecution and difficulties among their own people of their own culture maybe the Gospel would have never reached other peoples, other cultures. Every Christian echos the voice of Christ, and, as he described in today’s Gospel, his sheep hear his voice, and hearing is voice is necessary for belief. We help people to hear his voice.

The thought of breaking out of your cultural group to share the Good News may seem intimidating, but the “hand of the Lord” will be with you too: he is preparing people to hear his voice through you. The greatest enemy of Christianity is complacency, especially considering how many people in the world still haven’t heard the Gospel and how many Christians are suffering persecution for simply being Christian. It may be logical, when under attack, to dig in, consolidate, avoid exposure and risks, but Christians throughout history, including those in today’s First Reading, show that this tactic does not come from the Christian play book.

Share your faith today without fear; the hand of the Lord is with you.

Readings: Acts 11:19–26; Psalm 87:1b–7; John 10:22–30. See also 4th Week of Easter, Tuesday.